Help to build a resilient economy and community

A NEW one-day workshop on Transition Farming will take place at the Ballygarry House Hotel in Tralee next Wednesday, February 26.

Renowned international agricultural advisor Hugh Lovel will be joined by Transition Kerry and NOTS, all of whom are delighted to be able to present this full-day workshop in Tralee.

Hugh is an international consultant for conventional, organic and biodynamic farmers in Europe, Africa, Australia, USA and New Zealand. He advises farmers in all sectors – from dairy, beef and sheep to horticulture and wine producers.

This will be a one-day course outlining how farmers can climate-proof their farms while reducing external inputs and costs by getting nitrogen and most of what our plants need for free.

Over the course of the day, farmers will learn how agriculture can work in harmony with nature; how to improve yields; eliminate weeds, and improve crop responses to weather.

They will learn how to harvest both carbon dioxide and nitrogen from the atmosphere and build these into the humus in our soils.

They will learn how to use soil biology and chemistry to understand how we can get our on-farm nitrogen and other minerals for free.

Transition farming is about developing a road map for adapting to biological and ecological farming methods.

It is time to transition our farms and support them in adapting to the challenges they face here in Kerry and Ireland.

This means improving their ability to make a sustainable living, while also playing an active role in mitigating some of the impacts of climate change on our food security, biodiversity and the natural environment that supports us.

With the right training, supports and policies, our local farmers and communities can play a more dynamic role in meeting Ireland’s carbon targets and renewable energy targets.

They can do this by providing local, affordable and sustainable food systems, with shorter supply chains, which support more resilient communities.

Food is the primary energy of any community and should be the foundation in any plans to tackle climate change.

Transition Kerry co-ordinates transition farming workshops and public events, which focus on helping farmers to build resilience and sustainability while dealing with the challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss and peak oil.

Transition Kerry knows the potential for farmers to diversify their farming, which can provide essential environmental benefits for both their farms and the wider community, while at the same time protecting their farms’ biodiversity for the next generation to come.

Transition Farming focuses on introducing farmers to new ways of looking at climate change challenges, ecosystem services and how converting their farms can be part of the solution in a sustainable and localised way.

There are many innovative, creative and appropriate nature-based technologies and systems being developed worldwide.

We can learn from these and adapt them to our own farming systems and conditions.

This involves using a combined approach called ‘Whole Systems Thinking’: integrating permaculture, organics, agroforestry, mycofarming (mushrooms), seed saving and other methodologies.